Battle Scars

Chapter 5: Cowgirl

Chapter five: Cowgirl
The Australian chariot was eighth in line. Shari had instructed us to wait until just before the horses were to leave before climbing over the chariot and getting on the horses. That way nobody would suspect our secret.
I looked around at the other tributes who were still waiting for their turn to parade to begin. The only country that was really worth seeing was Canada - both the tributes had skin tight singlets that showed off the shape of their body, and training shorts. They wore laurel wreaths on their heads, a symbol of victory, but the crowning beauty of their outfits were the capes. They seemed to shimmer and glow in the light, and as I watched I saw pictures of victory appearing in them.
Finally, it was our turn to ride out, and as the horses began to move, Aidan grabbed my hand, and together we climbed over the chariot, and onto the horses' backs. It was a piece of cake - the horses were a pair of the best trained creatures in the world, and it would have taken more than a person standing on them to upset their stride. The crowd went insane the second they saw us.
"We might as well try and get ourselves a few sponsors," Aidan said. I sighed. I hated doing what they set us up to do, but we really didn't have much choice in this situation.
"Ok," I replied. I raised my spear into the air, and Aidan did the same, causing the crowd to cheer even more. We waved to the people, and they seemed to enjoy every second of it. But there was something about the people - the maniacal looks, the screams of excitement. These people did not see twenty teenagers trying to gain support to keep themselves alive. They simply saw a fashion show of their new idols for the next few weeks, until a different trend started in the population of The Soviet.
Not a second too soon did our chariot pull into the stands at the front, and we could lower our spears and escape the leering faces. The Canadian chariot was now stealing the show, and their reception was perhaps even greater than ours. It seems that the people of The Soviet prefer good looks and fashion statements over Horse riding stunts, not that I was really concerned. If people wanted to sponsor me, that was their choice, I was pretty sure a little parading around town wouldn't change a person one way or another.
Thankfully, all that remained for the evening was the welcoming ceremony, and that would soon be over. All of the tributes were installed safely upon seats on the stage, and we waited for the ceremony to begin.
Soon enough, the majestic doors opened, and in waltzed Yoseph Scourwood, as bright eyed and bushy tailed as ever he'd been before. I'd seen him plenty of times. He'd been commentating celebrations and hosting talk shows since before I could remember, and there was a reason for that. For all his over evident Soviet-ness, he was charismatic, skilled with words, and could easily get a crowd on it's feet, although that was not a difficult feat in The Soviet since they were always over excited.
One by one, the tributes were introduced, and chose their mentors. The mentor choosing was something I had not known about previously. Apparently an official had returned to each hometown and asked for volunteers to mentor each tribute, and now we were to choose from a list of volunteers.
One tribute who stood out to me must have been only thirteen years old. She was from Africa, and her name was Ebony. I admired her courage, but next to the much older and stronger guys she would never have a chance. She chose her mentor quickly, and sat down. I felt sorry for her, noticing that her fellow countryman from Africa didn't even throw her a glance. She had no one to comfort her, yet she was determined to hold out.
I learnt the names of both the Canadian tributes - the guy was named Mitchell Hughes, and the girl was named Ellie Pierce. Both of them were strong, supple teenagers. Ellie seemed about my age, whilst Mitchell seemed a bit older - perhaps eighteen or nineteen. His chiseled features and obviously muscled chest gave him an advantage, because he earned cheers on every side simply by standing up to be welcomed by the crowd. And as if that wasn't enough, he demonstrated his charisma by giving them an attractive smile, and exchanging a few laughs with Yoseph Scourwood.
Soon enough, Yoseph was looking at me, and calling me to the stage.
"Miss Abby Hernandez, the cowgirl from down under!" He exclaimed. The crowd roared for me as I made my way over to Yoseph.
"Now let me just say, Abby, you looked fantastic out there in the parade, right at home on that horse, isn't that right!" The crowd made their agreement known with quantity, rather than quality of sound. I remembered the charismatic Mitchell, and gave the crowd a smile and a wave. They responded accordingly, until Yoseph stemmed the flow of noise.
"And now is the time to choose your mentor, you've got a few people down there, but who are you going to go for?" I knew the list was behind me on the large screens, visible to the crowds, as I looked at the delicate, gold trimmed paper that Yoseph handed me. The list ran thus:
Lani Hernandez: mother
Emily Hernandez: sister
Rachel Burford: peer
Vaughan Davidson: coach
Four people who cared. Four people who valued me enough to volunteer to come to The Soviet to mentor me. I was surprised that Rachel volunteered. We had never been that close, despite having done gymnastics together for the past seven years. However, for me, the question was between my mother and my sister.
There was a tense silence, as I looked at the two names on the page. Finally, I made my decision, and breathed out the words.
"I choose Emily." As the crowd cheered, I whispered, "Em, don't fail me now."
And although I didn't know it, my sister, watching me from half a planet away, reassured me that she wouldn't.

a/N: hey guys :) hope y'all are liking the story, please comment if you are liking it, and tell me which fandom you are here from (ie. Hunger Games, Bajancanadian etc.) just so you guys know, I've tried to write this story so that if you're here for a particular fandom, you don't have to understand the other fandoms to enjoy the story.
For the BajanCanadian fans... There he is ^^^ he's finally turned up :)
anyway I'm done with this a/n so ttyl!!
<3 Jordyn